AQA GCSE English Literature
AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Exam Questions
Free AQA GCSE English Literature practice questions for An Inspector Calls. Covers Priestley's an Inspector calls: social responsibility, class, gender, age, guilt, the Birlings, Gerald, Inspector Goole and Eva Smith.
An Inspector Calls practice questions
1 pack of exam-style practice questions for An Inspector Calls. Plan and write as many answers as you can under timed conditions, then compare them with the guidance on this page and your notes.
About AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls is the most popular modern text on AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2, Section A. You choose one of two essay questions, usually on a character or a theme, and write about the whole play without an extract. Set in 1912 but first performed in 1945, the play shows Inspector Goole revealing each Birling's part in the death of Eva Smith. Examiners reward answers that treat characters as vehicles for Priestley's socialist message, analyse dramatic methods such as dramatic irony, stage directions and lighting, and use the gap between 1912 and 1945 as context.
Key themes, characters and context
- Inspector Goole The Inspector controls the pace of the play, questioning 'one person and one line of inquiry at a time'. His final speech, 'We are members of one body', delivers Priestley's message of social responsibility.
- Mr Birling Birling calls himself a 'hard-headed, practical man of business' and calls the Titanic 'unsinkable'. Dramatic irony makes his capitalist views look foolish to the 1945 audience.
- Sheila and Eric The younger Birlings accept responsibility and change. Sheila becomes perceptive and challenges her parents; Eric admits his drinking, his treatment of Eva and theft.
- Mrs Birling and Gerald Mrs Birling refuses help to Eva through her charity and blames the father of the child, who turns out to be Eric. Gerald's affair with Daisy Renton shows some feeling, but he later helps the parents dismiss the Inspector.
- Eva Smith Eva never appears on stage. She represents the working class and powerless women, and the 'chain of events' links each Birling to her death.
- Context Priestley set the play before two world wars to criticise the class system and capitalism. In 1945 Labour won a landslide election and the welfare state was being planned.
Common mistakes in An Inspector Calls
- Writing about Eva as a real person. Treat her as Priestley's device to represent the exploited working class.
- Forgetting the 1945 audience. Dramatic irony depends on the audience knowing what happened after 1912.
- Ignoring stage directions. The lighting changing from 'pink and intimate' to 'brighter and harder' is part of Priestley's method.
- Saying Gerald changes like Sheila. He is closer to the older generation by the end.
- Leaving out the twist ending. The final phone call is key to Priestley's warning.
Try three An Inspector Calls practice questions
1. How does Priestley present Sheila as a character who changes in An Inspector Calls? Write about how Sheila responds to her family and the Inspector and how Priestley presents her by the way he writes. (30 marks + 4 marks for SPaG)
Show what a strong answer includes
A strong answer would trace Sheila from her childish excitement over the ring to her guilt about Milwards, her insight into the Inspector and her challenge to her parents, arguing that she represents Priestley's hope in the younger generation.
2. How does Priestley use the character of Mr Birling to criticise capitalism? (30 marks + 4 marks for SPaG)
Show what a strong answer includes
A strong answer would analyse his speech in Act 1, the dramatic irony of the Titanic and war predictions, his attitude to Eva's strike and his concern for his knighthood, linking to Priestley's socialism and 1945 context.
3. How does Priestley present ideas about responsibility in An Inspector Calls? (30 marks + 4 marks for SPaG)
Show what a strong answer includes
A strong answer would examine each Birling's link in the chain, the generational divide in how they respond, the Inspector's final speech and the ending, considering Priestley's message for post-war Britain.
An Inspector Calls FAQs
What does AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls cover?
It covers the whole play, including the Inspector, the Birlings, Gerald and Eva Smith, and themes of responsibility, class, gender and generational change.
Which paper is An Inspector Calls examined in?
It is examined in Paper 2, Section A, where you choose one of two essay questions with no extract, worth 30 marks plus 4 for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Which quotations should I learn for An Inspector Calls?
Learn short quotations such as 'hard-headed, practical man of business', 'unsinkable', 'We are members of one body' and 'fire and blood and anguish'.
